Chase

Dining

(Kevin Arnold photo)

Chase is a small town with a big appetite if the number and variety of restaurants is any indicator.

It's amazing how many different styles and menus are packed into this compact village. Eateries are strung along Shuswap Avenue and located in the Chase Plaza. Being right off Highway 1, it's no surprise to find fast food outlets like A&W and Subway, but there's also home-style cooking, Chinese, pub food and pizza.

Getting Lunch in Chase

Lunch is a specialty at several food outlets. Order excellent homemade soups, daily special sandwiches, fresh baked goods and decadent sweets. Pretty much everywhere the emphasis is on casual dining, this isn't a black tie kind of town. Restaurants are filled with locals (always a good sign) who offer strangers a smile instead of a suspicious glare. Eat in or take out.

Coffee and More

Ease into the day with a latte at the cutest eatery in Chase. Simply De Vine Coffee & Bistro occupies a heritage building and along with the hot and cold coffee, chai, teas and smoothies, serves breakfast, sandwiches, desserts and snacks in a gallery/gift shop setting. A few steps away, Craig's Bakery lures with delicious smells that spill into the street from a narrow storefront. Lots of locals sit at the few tables and there's a steady take-out trade in fresh baked goods and made-to-order deli sandwiches.

Home Cooking

First Nations Fare

Owned and operated by the Little Shuswap Band, Jack Sam's Restaurant at Talking Rock Resort, is a 10-minute drive from Chase on the eastern shore of Little Shuswap Lake. While the menu reflects a mix of cultures, popular choices include bannock (a kind of bread and a First Nations staple), venison, buffalo, cedar board salmon steak and chicken or bird in clay (requires 24 hours notice). Jack Sam's is working toward a 100-mile menu using locally produced ingredients wherever possible. Many vegetables and herbs served in the restaurant are grown in the resort's Medicine Wheel Garden.

Markets

Chase is a convenient supply depot for outdoor enthusiasts headed to the provincial parks and backcountry. Two grocery stores stock a full range of provisions year round. On Friday evenings from late-May to mid-September, vendors at the Farmers' Market offer fresh produce, much of it organic, while U-pick strawberries are available in July, and August is corn season on farms just minutes from the village centre.